A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Hardcover)

by Walter Bauer (Author), Frederick William Danker (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Will influence more biblical scholarship than any one other book published in the English language in the last half century. -- Currents in Theology and Mission

Product Description
Described as an "invaluable reference work" (Classical Philology) and "a tool indispensable for the study of early Christian literature" (Religious Studies Review) in its previous edition, this new updated American edition of Walter Bauer's Wörterbuch zu den Schriften des Neuen Testaments builds on its predecessor's staggering deposit of extraordinary erudition relating to Greek literature from all periods. Including entries for many more words, the new edition also lists more than 25,000 additional references to classical, intertestamental, Early Christian, and modern literature.

In this edition, Frederick W. Danker's broad knowledge of Greco-Roman literature, as well as papyri and epigraphs, provides a more panoramic view of the world of Jesus and the New Testament. Danker has also introduced a more consistent mode of reference citation, and has provided a composite list of abbreviations to facilitate easy access to this wealth of information.

Perhaps the single most important lexical innovation of Danker's edition is its inclusion of extended definitions for Greek terms. For instance, a key meaning of "episkopos" was defined in the second American edition as overseer; Danker defines it as "one who has the responsibility of safeguarding or seeing to it that something is done in the correct way, guardian." Such extended definitions give a fuller sense of the word in question, which will help avoid both anachronisms and confusion among users of the lexicon who may not be native speakers of English.

Danker's edition of Bauer's Wörterbuch will be an indispensable guide for Biblical and classical scholars, ministers, seminarians, and translators.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 1188 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (January 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226039331
• ISBN-13: 978-0226039336
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #53,665 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Positive Review of the 3rd edition of Bauer, December 13, 2000

By	Kevin Woodruff (Chattanooga, TN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Like the the biblical pearl of great price, the only advice I can give is,"Go sell all that you have" and get this newest edition of the venerable Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich, and Danker! This edition includes much longer definitions rather than the simple glosses that have been used by the previous two editions. The typography has been greatly improved and it makes this edition much more user-friendly. Frederick Danker is worthy of the kudoes that will be coming his way in his magisterial revision of this indispensable tool for any minister, seminarian, theological student, professor, teacher or Biblical scholar. This will be standard Greek lexicon for the next two decades. Even if you have BAGD, you'll want ot get this edition (now known as BDAG). The improvements alone are worth the purchase price.

38 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Consider the 1979 edition at half the price (used)!, April 12, 2004

By A Customer

Danker brings tremendous industry and learning to this new edition of what is, without question, the ultimate lexicon of New Testament Greek in English. Since so many other reviews appraise the (very great) absolute value of the 3rd edition, I feel that it's appropriate to sound a cautionary note about whether the 3rd edition really shines that much relative to the 2nd edition. (...)

In short, the 2nd edition is a monument of scholarship, a rock of scholarly solidity and clarity that has not been suddenly rendered obsolete. One's enthusiasm for shelling out for the 3rd edition is a bit dampened when you consider several issues:

(...)To conclude, there is obviously an audience who needs to have the absolute most current edition: namely, scholars who are going to follow up all the references in the bibliography, who need to have the published record (the 3rd edition) of every iota of deepened reflection reached by Danker. But the 2nd edition is not just a book now useful only to "unscholarly" readers. It was published in 1979, making use of Qumran material, etc., and it continues to offer its users a lucid and authoritative account of the NT lexicon.

I am not a NT specialist, but a Classics professor. I think my demands for quality philological information with which to read the NT are pretty high. The 2nd edition meets them to my satisfaction. I'd not be distressed to have only the 3rd edition--on the whole, its advantages outweigh its annoyances--but there is certainly not $50 worth of difference in the value of these editions.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the most authoritative lexicon for NT Greek, September 30, 1997

By	Jonathan W. Robie (Durham, NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Second Edition (Hardcover)

This is the standard Greek lexicon for New Testament studies. I find that it takes longer to use than Louw and Nida, but gives a more mature understanding. It gives many more examples, and also points out grammatical features of the words, which can be extremely helpful. This lexicon does not attempt to give you a full dictionary definition; instead, it tries to give you the data to allow you to develop your own. For a comparison of the standard lexicons for New Testament Greek, see "http://www.mindspring.com/~jwrobie/littleGreek.html"